The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for April regarding a series of petitions aimed at including all recognized political parties under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. A bench consisting of the Chief Justice of India and Justice Sanjay Kumar instructed all involved parties to finalize their arguments, with the case set to be discussed in the week starting April 21.
The petitions seek to classify both national and regional political parties as “public authorities” under the RTI Act. Respondents in the case include major political parties such as the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Among the petitions is one from the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms, which refers to the Central Information Commission (CIC) orders from 2013 and 2015 that mandated political parties to maintain transparency within the political framework. According to the NGO, these parties benefit from government support like tax exemptions and land
Internal decision-making processes should not be subject to RTI inquiries: CPIM
In response, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) stated that while they support the RTI Act for financial transparency, they believe that the internal decision-making processes and reasons for candidate selections .
Centre's stand
The Central government argued before the SC bench that the CIC's orders do not provide a basis for bringing recognized political parties under the RTI Act. The petitions aim to officially label all national and state-recognized political parties as ‘public authorities’ to ensure they adhere to the provisions of the RTI Act.
Petitioner Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay said that Section 29C of the Representation of the People Act requires political parties to disclose donation information to the Election Commission of India. Upadhyay's petition also calls for all registered and recognized political parties to appoint a Public Information Officer and an Appellate Authority within four weeks to comply with the RTI Act, 2005.
Prakash Kumar Pandey
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